National Nursing Centers Consortium, Inc.
Philadelphia, PA

Written by Heather McDanel, Program Director

"Your name, what?"

It was a sunny Friday morning when the school buses arrived at the Students Run Philly Style Leadership Summit—a three-day retreat for 80 students at a running camp in rural Pennsylvania. We designed the camp with the theme of “breaking out of your comfort zone” with the knowledge that most of our kids had never been away from home. Many of the kids were never truly pushed to their limits with running. None were ever asked to reinvent themselves and take on challenges they never thought were possible. During the three days, some of the students would run more than they were used to, would learn pacing and do running drills. But all were about to embark on a journey about much more than running. A journey that would spark different kinds of changes … changes that would affect some of their lives forever.

The kid who really didn’t want to come to the Leadership Summit was 15-year-old James. As James stumbled off the bus, you could see the fear in his deep blue eyes, like a boy lost at sea. A lifetime of isolation and communication challenges resulted in a wall between James and the rest of the world. He retreated away from the other kids and leaned against the yellow steel bus with the thick black stripe, as if it was his security blanket. He knew that when the bus pulled away there would be nothing left to hide behind. He was scared to walk across the lawn to the registration table—scared to once again be the “dumb kid” … the kid who can’t talk, and can’t hear.

He was especially scared of the group of laughing girls and boys cracking jokes who were all gathered behind the table. His running leader Megan saw him dragging his feet. She first tried gentle coaxing. “Let’s go James, you can do it. This will be really fun,” her hands signed to him. He stayed put. Megan, whose zest for life and passion for the kids she works with is contagious, was getting impatient. Finally she signed, “Hurry up, go: saying no is not an option here.” In the end he walked to the registration table with slumped shoulders, wearing a scowl as his armor of protection.

All the students and leaders gathered in the camp dining hall with wooden walls and picnic tables that lined the room. The smell of hotdogs filled the air as the kids looked at a place that was very different from anything they were used to. Jessica, Chris, Angela and Mark gazed intrigued by the rapid hand movements of a group of boys across the aisle who would speak to each other by what seemed like random gestures. One would gesture and the other would pass the ketchup, or a drink. They would continue to move their hands gesturing to one another, then laugh and slap shoulders. Jessica knew she wanted to learn how to talk to these new boys, especially the cute one with the sandy hair and the blue eyes.

After dinner, Jessica tentatively approached Megan, the running leader from Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (PSD), and whispered, “Can you help me learn how to sign ‘what is your name?’” Megan beamed. It was what she had been waiting for. “Sure sweetheart … ‘Your name, what?’” she said as she showed Jessica the signs. “And use your face, your face is the key to sign language.”

At the campfire that night, Jessica sat with Chris, Angela and Mark and taught them all “Your name, what?” They giggled as they tried this new way to communicate—again gazing across the lawn at the deaf students who signed so fast and so easily. It was scary for Jessica to think about actually trying to ask anyone their name in sign language, anyone who was really deaf anyway.

With each leadership lesson that Jessica heard, she said to herself, “After this I’m going to try, I’m really going to try to ask that cute boy his name.” We were all gathered around the pool when Megan came up to Jessica, put her arm around her and said, “Come with me sweetheart, I’ll help you.” Jessica just smiled as Megan led her to the group of boys circled up who were smiling and gesturing away. When Jessica approached they just stopped, looked at her, looked down, and blushed.

Jessica thought maybe they wanted nothing to do with her, and turned to walk away with her head down. But Megan gave her a little nudge, and she turned back around. Jessica looked at James and signed, “Your name, what?” He signed back JAMES and asked, “Your name, what?” Megan helped Jessica fingerspell her name. It was slow, but Jessica was able to get every letter right. James could not take his eyes off of Jessica’s graceful hands. Megan tried to hide her excitement at seeing James finally crack a smile.

They hung out for hours. Jessica was surprised how well he read lips. The next night, Jessica introduced her friends from Sayre High School to his friends from Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. All the kids somehow found a way to figure out who wanted what types of snacks, to play basketball together, and turn a jump rope for double dutch. Megan just sat by the fence, taking it all in. She realized what a big deal this interaction was. Her deaf students are normally so isolated. They are isolated from their families because they rarely know sign language. They’re isolated from other young people who bond over music they will never hear. They’re isolated from the entire hearing world that surrounds them and leaves them behind. Megan tried desperately to swallow the knot building in her throat. She was watching her kids sitting at a table in the dining hall rising to the top of this social ladder. A place they never even let themselves dream was possible.

On our final morning, we gathered at our outdoor stage for one last time. Jessica stood up in front of the group of nearly 100 people and said, “Can I please come up front, I have something to say.” After she made her way to the stage, she started to speak. As sound came from her mouth, her hands started to move, forming signs she had learned in the previous days. “I really appreciate the students from PSD for being here and for teaching me some signs.” Looking straight at James she signed, “I’m so happy that we met. I think we are going to be friends for a long time.”

In that moment, lives were changed. Students who were used to being labeled as “dumb” or “not as good” were validated by a young girl from West Philadelphia, who had the courage to step out of her comfort zone … the courage to go farther. And the boy with the sandy hair and the blue eyes who arrived with a scowl, left with a smile and a new friend to add to his myspace page.

Students Run Philly Style is a little bit about running. But it is a lot about changing lives, and going farther … one experience at a time.

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